“What we think determines how we feel. What we focus on we accomplish. What we don’t focus on enough eventually fades away.”

Have you ever made a small change that ended up having a ripple effect throughout your entire life? Well, this may sound unbelievable, but I challenged myself to stop complaining for 40 days and it literally changed the course of my life.

Honestly, there are still so many days that I am amazed at how everything has unfolded. And, I had no idea – absolutely no clue- that making a simple commitment to just stop complaining for 40 days would end up freeing my mind from so much negativity that I didn’t even realize was there. But, I now can clearly see that my bad habit of complaining was clogging my mind, affecting the way I felt everyday and even distracting me from being able to accomplish the things that I wanted for my life.

It’s like that quote by Charles Haanel explains …

You can not entertain weak, harmful, and negative thoughts and expect to bring about beautiful, strong and harmonious conditions.

And, I didn’t even think I had an issue with complaining. I knew I complained from time to time, but I had no idea just how much time I was wasting complaining everyday. According to research done by UCLA, the average person has 70,000 thoughts a day and an easy trap to fall into is to waste too many of those thoughts on complaints.

On any given day, the circumstances we experience (our job, weather, money issues, etc.) and/or the actions of the people around us – (significant other, kids, co-worker, bad drivers, etc.) – may be something we complain about without even really realizing (“I don’t feel like going to work today.” “I am sick of not having enough money.” “It’s so cold.” “He drives me crazy.” “Why is she so moody?” ”Why is he so rude?”).

That was the exact trap I fell into and a large chunk of my thoughts were complaints. But, once I started really paying attention to what I was saying, I realized something needed to change. Essentially my mind looked like the picture below on the left filled with complaints.

 

And, once I stopped wasting my thoughts on complaining, not only did I just feel better because I had released a lot of negativity, but I also started seeing possibilities and opportunities that I had overlooked when my thoughts were preoccupied with complaints. My mind began to look like the picture above on the right without complaints and it created a positive ripple effect.

This is how the ripple effect has unfolded.

To think all of this began simply because I stopped complaining for 40 days. If I only had realized this a little earlier. But, you live and learn right? And, now I get it. It’s just like another great quote reminds us …

“Beautiful things happen once you distant yourself from negativity.”

I am hoping you will join me in a 30 day complaint free challenge. You can begin the Complaint Free Challenge whenever you’re ready and I will provide you with tips and information that will help you successfully make it through the challenge.

All you have to do is enter your e-mail below and sign the pledge. I will then be able to send you everything you need to go complaint free for 30 days. (I promise to not overload your inbox.) You’ll just receive one e-mail from me every week during the challenge with some good tips and reminders.

So, if you’re interested in experiencing all the benefits of being complaint free, just enter your e-mail below to join the challenge. It will absolutely be one of the best things you have ever done.

Live Today Better than Yesterday.

Complaint Free Pledge: For the next 30 days, I commit to joining the challenge and trying to not complain.